By Gary Gould
ggould@mihomepaper.com
Genesee Cty. — The 67th District Court and the Genesee County Board of Commissioners remain in talks through a study group to collaborate and recommend a plan by June 30 for the future consolidation of the district court facilities.
Pursuant to the terms of a proposed settlement to the lawsuit brought by the court against the county last year, the suit was dismissed without prejudice, and the county has agreed that the present facilities will be maintained through June 30.
When finished, the proposed settlement agreement will be presented to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners for approval.
Jared A. Field, director of communications for Genesee County, said at this time, the county continues to meet to develop a final plan.
The original plan the county began to implement at the end of 2023 was drafted by Derek Bradshaw, director of the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission, and Josh Freeman, director of administration for Genesee County, to address deteriorating buildings housing various county offices.
The focus of the plan was to save enough money, without raising taxes or cutting staff, to repair and improve four state mandated buildings in the county – the Genesee County Circuit Court, the Genesee County Jail, the county motor pool and the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department (GCCARD) warehouse.
Bradshaw said those buildings will cost the county $82.9 million in expenses over the next nine years, so the plan would move to close the six outlying 67th District Court buildings for a savings of $21 million over that period. Court operations would then be consolidated into a single facility located in downtown Flint.
All of the money saved by these closures would be put into a capital improvement fund specifically to repair and update the four buildings in question.
The outlying communities of Genesee County – specifically those with courts located in them – strongly opposed the plan to close the courthouses and consolidate them in Flint.